Downtown Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay province in southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)
ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 9, 2014) – A fishing boat operator was seized by three men, one of them introduced himself as an anti-narcotic agent, in the coastal town of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay province, police said.
Police said Bansawdi Buhisan was taken by the three men while buying fuel for his boat in the village of Magdaup. Witnesses said the men spoke briefly with Buhisan and then cuffed him before being dragged to a waiting van.
One of the men also left his business card to civilians in the area before driving away with Buhisan. Villagers reported the incident to the local police station. It was not immediately known whether the men, who claimed to be members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, were legitimate agents or not.
Just last month, Abu Sayyaf rebels also seized a fish broker, Cynthia Caboverde, 48, in the same village after distributing salaries of her workers. One of the abductors, Adznar Chiong, 25, was arrested in a police operation, although Caboverde remains captive by the group of Nurhassan Jamiri, a notorious Abu Sayyaf leader in Basilan province. (Mindanao Examiner)
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